Comment: The Domestic Blind Spots of ‘Vision 2035: The UK Critical Minerals Strategy’

At last, the UK’s updated Critical Minerals Strategy (CMS) has been released. Having been in a state of immanency for much of 2025, the CMS – titled, ‘Vision 2035’ – builds on the 2022 Strategy and 2023 Refresh to provide an updated plan on how the UK is going to meet the ever-growing demand for critical minerals.

So-called ‘critical’ minerals are deemed such based on their global supply risk and UK economic vulnerability. They are vital for the energy transition, defence and security, data centre production and other miscellaneous ‘industrial growth sectors’. Accessing and producing these minerals forms a key pillar in the wider UK Industrial Strategy, released earlier in 2025.

Whilst the CMS’ release in late November 2025 was overshadowed in the media by the Autumn Budget, it is a highly anticipated and significant document for the UK’s re-emerging mining sector. I have also been patiently waiting for its release. Having spent the past three years of my PhD researching the new dawn of the UK mining industry, with a particular attention to lithium extraction in Cornwall, I was curious to see how the new CMS foregrounds domestic, ‘re-shored’ extraction. 

To learn more about the CMS and its reception, I attended several conferences as part of the London Mining Week at the start of December 2025- two weeks after the strategy’s (less-than-grand) unveiling. Plenty was made of the improved features of the CMS. The 2022 Strategy had good intent but was vague and provided little in the way of solid targets. The new CMS is more tangible. It specifies that by 2035, no more than 60% of any critical mineral should be imported from a single country; 10% of annual UK industrial demand for critical minerals should be met through domestic production; and 20% through the recycling of products. This figure of 20% is not as high as some would hope. Nevertheless, focussing on recycling and the midstream processing of minerals has been well received, with the UK’s established and growing expertise and innovation in this area considered a huge opportunity. 

The ambition for 10% of critical minerals to be domestically produced bears more scrutiny, however. The target itself is considered fine, albeit conservative considering this figure includes ore imported to the UK to be processed. However, a consistent point of derision was the £50 million made available for critical minerals projects in the UK. This is a drop in the ocean compared to the costs of establishing a mine. In a similar vein, the lack of any off-take agreements for domestic projects was a source of frustration for some.

Following my own research into local experiences of the speculation around lithium extraction in Cornwall’s Clay Country, I suggest that there is another point of contention hidden in this figure of 10% domestic production. How are benefits for local communities and environments going to be ensured?

The Strategy celebrates the UK’s ‘distinct pockets of mineral wealth with a deep mining history’. It also celebrates the emerging critical minerals industry as ushering in ‘an industrial renaissance’ which ‘rejuvenates industrial communities’. This romantic appeal to heritage and history makes sense and was even more pronounced in the 2022 Strategy. However, it not only risks washing over mining’s chequered history and frequently negative public perception; it also takes for granted the considerable work which must happen to engage, include, and cooperate with local communities in proposed domestic mining projects. 

While my research found some optimism among communities about a renewed mining industry, there was a frequently tense undercurrent concerning the prospect of extracting lithium from former clay pits. On the one hand, the opportunities for collaboration and engagement with the mining industry are recognised – for example, in establishing new footpaths and supporting community groups. On the other, however, there is anger about the consequences for the local post-extractive landscape of the Clay Country, as well as questions over environmental harms which are considered unanswered.

As stressed in my research, making local community benefits foundational to any domestic mining project is essential. While the importance of ESG is highlighted at length in the CMS, particularly for overseas partnerships, there is little explanation over how this will be actualised in the context of domestic mining projects. The CMS is a relatively brief document yet should have gone further than references to ‘jobs’ in detailing how the renewed industry can work for the benefit of communities. What does good community inclusion in extractive projects look like? How can the new critical minerals industry improve the frequently negative public preconceptions of mining? What standards of environmental remediation will mining projects be held to? These questions are unasked, but their answers are hugely important for determining the success of Vision 2035. 

Words and photos by Jamie Hinch.